Moroccan Mystery Tour
A Motorcycle tour of the Moroccan Sahara with Chris Scott, author of Morocco Overland
Make your plans, but the Moroccan Road will break them. A wide desert highway becomes a muddy track, around the bend lies an old man on a donkey, a herder with goats, or a grey-uniformed police patrol.
My guide Chris knows this and embraces the chaos, carrying the itinerary in his head and — with a glint in his eye—only revealing the day’s plan when we were already on the move.
The road fires south from Marrakesh and twists up the Atlas mountains, past Morocco’s oldest mosque, an abandoned film set, and an off-road detour to a village with no name, in a hidden oasis valley.
A Salaam-Alaikum from a man fixing his ancient Mercedes, while sand creeps into everything, and the road is both a dream and a danger.
There is always mint tea at a roadside café — half an hour if done properly. Lunch is usually omelette; sardines if we’re lucky, surrounded by hungry cats in 35‑degree heat.
At an auberge, our Bedouin host tells us to fill the tanks and check the tyres. Ahead lie pink‑hued hills, heat haze, trembling date palms, and the sands whirling in from nowhere.
Go ahead and make your plans, but Morocco will stop you in your tracks.
Thats why your’e here.
TRAVEL BRIEFING
I travelled on Chris Scott’s Morocco Fly/Ride Tour of Southern Morocco. The tour lasts 6 days; starting and finishing in Marrakesh. The trip takes in tarmac roads and desert pistes. You need to be an experienced motorcycle rider to go on this trip, but off-road experience is not necessary.
I have no affiliation with Chris Scott and paid full price for this tour.